


Not Ready

by AcceleOrder



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Growing Up, M/M, i guess, kurotsuki - Freeform, on keis part, sigh
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-25
Updated: 2014-10-25
Packaged: 2018-02-22 12:51:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,451
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2508506
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AcceleOrder/pseuds/AcceleOrder
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Living together certainly has its pros and cons, but one con can outshine all pros -- the cost of living. So when Kei does something in hope of making Tetsurou happy, the man isn't pleased with the cost of it...</p>
            </blockquote>





	Not Ready

**Author's Note:**

> I'm trying to explore something more realistic, but I guess I'm still not ready.

"Kei, what's with the get-up?" Tetsurou, as per any other normal working night, loosened his tie and slipped out of his coat for winter was nearing, and sat at one of the seats around their small dining table, just enough for five if visitors were to come. During such days, it was Kei who had no extra curriculum activities who made dinner. Before the man was already a large bowl of soup; not just any soup, but chicken noodle soup. The bowl was large enough to feed four, but there was just the two of them. What on earth was Kei thinking? They only had chicken noodle soup on occasions such as the New Year or Christmas -- they weren't exactly well-off, not when they'd just spent most of their money on getting the apartment and furniture they relax in.

Kei, who was still preparing dishes in the kitchen, called out in a merry voice; more merry than he usually did hard as he might try to contain it,

"Today, I got a bonus at my part-time job. Also, a permanent raise and a spot for me as a full-time worker once I graduate."

It was then that he walked out, still in the apron Tetsurou had bought for him a while back when he'd just proposed the idea of living together. It looked cute on the tall boy; checkered boxes and cat paw prints in different shades of red. But Tetsurou wasn't taking notice of that tonight. Instead, he narrowed his eyes at the plate of chicken Kei had brought out and set on the table, he himself sitting opposite of Tetsurou, looking proud. The boy had tried his best tonight; it was finally nearing the end of the month, the time when Tetsurou was always tired from long days of work for a whole thirty day, and had wanted to cook up a feast to let him regain some energy in preparation for a new month. And coincidentally, his manager had called from work to tell him the good news. What a good chance to do exactly that, was what Kei had thought. Thrifty as he usually was, he did not see any drawback of doing what he did.

But Tetsurou was not pleased, not in the slightest, that money had gone to waste like this. Kei could've better saved it for long-lasting things like new headphones, new DVDs, or even a new apron. Anything but a feast like this which would have cost just about five thousand yen. Imagine, five thousand yen! How many cups of instant noodles would he be able to eat for lunch at work for that amount of money? And so, angrily, mostly angry at himself for not even being able to pay for dinner although he was the adult, along with his fatigue of yet another fifteen hour long work day, he said to Kei sternly, more sternly than he's ever said to anybody,

"No. Kei, never do something like this ever again. I don't care for whatever reason, but never again. We're still on tight-ends when it comes to money, and it's only been two and a half months since we started living together. If you were to spend like this every other time, we wouldn't have enough to spare for our electricity bills and the such. This isn't a 1K apartment, Kei. It's expensive. Heck,  _rent's_ expensive.

"If you do this  _ever_ again, I think I might have to reconsider my choice of whether us staying together is really a good idea after all." Placing down his chopsticks, Tetsurou pushed back his chair loudly and went to his room -- the small room he stayed in before Kei finally decided to come out of his shyness and sleep in the same bed as him -- and slammed it shut, either not seeing or if he did, not caring that Kei had a stunned expression on his face. All the boy had wanted was to make Tetsurou happy; had he done it the wrong way? He still did not know much of how bills worked, but he tried his best to limit his usage by watching TV only when the news was on, and playing his MP3 player while doing work. The rest of the time was either spent at his part-time job, or making dinner. He even made note to shower ten minutes at most.

After a long moment, Kei bit on his lower lip and forced himself to finish the large bowl of chicken noodle soup and froze the chicken in the fridge, intending to heat it the next morning before Tetsurou headed off to work in case the man was hungry. It was the first time Tetsurou had ever shown any hint of anger towards Kei, and this was the only thing he could do now. His chippy mood from earlier had gone completely.

But when Kei woke up the next morning to prepare for school, Tetsurou was already gone. A small, scribbled note on the dining table read, "Won't be coming home any time early tonight. Don't bother cooking my meal."

* * *

Tetsurou was troubled. He wondered if he was too harsh on Kei the previous night. After all, Kei was, technically speaking, not a full working adult yet. He wouldn't have known. And thinking clearly now, it was likely that Kei was only trying to make his night better in his own way. Kei had always been peculiar in that area. He sighed again, knotting fingers from both hands together. The very thought of how Kei might've been feeling made his heart clench so tightly he felt like crying. Tonight, he decided, tonight, he'd apologise. He'd finish work no matter how late it may drag on to, and apologise.

* * *

The door clicked as quietly as any door could, but the apartment was dark.

Of course it is, Tetsurou shook his head at his own stupidity. It was two in the morning! Having memorised the layout of the apartment, he headed straight for Kei's room and knocked on it softly. He was, after all, known to have a bad temper when woken up for whatever reason. And this would especially be so if he was mad about last night. He stood outside for a minute or so, but when there was still no reply, he decided to try for the knob. Surprisingly, it was unlocked. Kei believed in utmost privacy.

"...Kei?" The door creaked open, and this time, Tetsurou let it. There the lamp was, switched on for God knows how long, but he didn't care about that then. The lamp was bright; the light bulb new, but the lighted up room showed no sign of Kei. Instead, he saw signs that the boy had left. Drawers emptied, his desk messy, the trash bin next to it overflowing with wasted and crumpled paper balls. On the dresser next to the bed, directly underneath the lamp, was a note similar to the one he left for Kei this morning, except it was a much larger, folded note. On it was a row of words in small, neat handwriting:

_Heh, thought you'd come to switch the lamp off. Sorry to be wasting electricity, but this is the last time... for now._

_Tetsurou-san, I've given the words of yours last night deep thought and thought you might be right about us not being ready for this. So... as the younger and less experienced one, I'll go. I won't return until I think I'm ready, and that you'll accept me wholly this time._

_Please don't try to look for me; it's impossible. You were never good at those things. I know this is selfish and I'm sorry for that; if I hear your voice, I don't think I can make it. I don't know how long it'd take before I return, so I won't blame you if you..._

That was mainly all Tetsurou could make out. From 'so I' onwards, the words were cancelled out furiously, and he had a faint idea of what Kei was trying to write. He understood; he couldn't bear the thought of Kei no longer loving him either. He crushed the note in his hands, silently acknowledging it. If this was Kei's decision, he'd respect it. All of his decisions had a meaning behind them, like he did last night.

Sighing as he went to sit on the three man couch in the living room, suddenly feeling the apartment too large for a one man like him, Tetsurou wondered if Kei would cook him chicken noodle soup when he returned. His stomach growled slightly, and he hoped that time will be soon. That night, Tetsurou dozed off wondering everything about Kei...

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> Out of all my Kurotsuki works so far I think I hate this one the most ugh. I would have put this under 'Daily Lives of Newly Weds', but I found the ending highly unsuitable, so I decided to release it as a separate fanfic.


End file.
